Method of preventing fires.



Patented July 1 2, l 904.

PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN SULZBERGER, OF NET/V YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF PREVENTING FIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,964, dated July 12,1904. Application filed November 13, 1903. Serial No. 181,094. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN SULZBERGER, a cltizen of the United States,residing in New York, borough of Manhattan, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of PreventingFires, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to an im proved method of preventing fires and ofquickly extinguishing the same by the use of carbonic-acid gas, themethod being specially applicable to warehouses, grain-elevators,storage-rooms, and all such other rooms and buildings in which little orno trafiic is going on, such as buildings and residences which arelocked up for a time during the year or in factories or departments ofsame Where there is no work done during a longer or shorter part of theday or night or during certain times of the year and also all otherrooms and spaces which can besufificiently shut off from the outsideatmosphere so that in the same the air can be sufficiently charged withcarbonic-acid gas to prevent or extinguish combustion.

In the previous uses of'carbonic acid the gas Was used more forextinguishing than for preventing fires, which caused a certain loss oftime, since it required first the discovery and location of the fire andthen the charging of the atmosphere with a sufiicient amount of gas forextinguishing the fire. Besides this, the constant watching of thebuildings was necessary, either by expensive watchmen or some automaticalarm device, taking risks with the latter of being out of order whenmost needed. This loss of time occurring at the starting or the fire,where the first few minutes in extinguishing fires are most valuable,makes the use of carbonic-acid gas as a preventive superior to the useof the same for extinguishing fires. It is also much more ditficult toextinguish a fire after it has once started than to prevent it by a gaswhich is a great deal heavier than the atmospheric air, as the hottestflames are naturally sought by the lightest gases, which generally arethe most suitable for sustaining combustion. These gases shut off forthe time being the heavier gases and among them, of course, thecarbonic-acid gas and where it is most needed.

Heavy gases also will first spread nearer to the floor, the higherlayers of the atmosphere in the rooms only being reached after the lowerlayers are saturated. Thus when the gas is introduced after a fire hasstarted the spreading of the fire will not be so quickly checked, owingto the starting up of the spreading Again, as a fire rarefies theatmosphere the amount of air whicha room or space contains (theatmospheric pressure of course does not change) is gradually diminishedthe higher the temperature of the room. In this case there would be lessoxygen present; but as bodies can get the supply of oxygen necessary fortheir combustion from other than atmospheric sources if certainoxygencontaining bodies be present, as is generally the case, it Willtake less time to charge an atmosphere with carbonic-acid gas to such anextent that combustion becomes impossible when the atmosphere alreadycontains some of this gas, and there is therefore but a small chancethat these high temperatures will ever be reached.

The invention consists, therefore, in establishing in the rooms orspaces to be protected against fire an atmosphere of carbonic-acid gasand sustaining this atmosphere by an additional supply of gas from timeto time and in case of a fire by an extra supply of carbonic acid, so asnot only to prevent the starting of a fire, but extinguish the same whenonce started. To this atmosphere may be added some penetrant odoriferoussubstance, which serves as a warning to the senses that the rooms orspaces are protected against fire by a fire-preventive gaseous fluid.

For the purpose of preventing fires rooms and buildings are equippedwith a system of pipes which are connected with a reservoir or withindividual cylinders containing liquefied or compressed carbonic acid,or they are connected with any other source of supply of this gas. Anypipe-lines which are already in the rooms or buildings can be used forconveying this gas, such as the common gas-pipes when electricity hasbeen installed; further, the pipes used in connection with a sprinklersystem, and in some cases, perhaps, even the water-pipes. These pipescan be perforated wherever the quick emission of the carbonicacid gas isdesired and valves be set on them at suitable places. When such pipesare laid for the purpose 01 using the fire-extinguishing properties ofcarbonic-acid gas, it might be well toput them as much as possible onthe outside of the building, as there is no danger of their freezing up,guarding thereby against dangerous leaks inside of the buildings as muchas possible. The valves should be best so set that the flow of the gascan be regulated as well from the outside as from the inside of eachindividual room. Between the-source of the gas and the pipe systemcarrying the gas to the place of use may be inserted a pressure-reducingvalve, so that from this valve on very thin piping can be used. It isbest to have each room on a separate valve, so that the gas can besupplied to any one room, while the other rooms are cut out or not, asdesired.

As carbonic acid is poisonous to human and animal life, the same isodorized with any suitable and easily-detected odor, which of coursewill vary as to the goods storedsuch as peppermint, musk, creosote,&e.so as to warn persons of the presence of the gas in these roomsthrough leakage or otherwise, or the rooms in which such an atmosphereis kept up can so be odorized.

In order to prevent any chance fire from starting, it is necessary notonly to create an atmosphere of carbonic-acid gas, but to keep it upcontinuously by adding so much of the carbonic-acid gas to the air insuch rooms that combustion becomes impossible, and in order that theatmosphere may remain in this fire-preventive condition it will benecessary either to supply a small continuous stream of this gas to therooms or buildings or let at least from time to time a quantity of freshgas into the same, since there will always be a tendency in thisartificial atmosphere to change into the natural condition of theatmosphere on the outside of the buildings, thereby lessening its amountof carbonic-acid gas.

A convenient way of ascertaining the desired conditions existing inthese rooms is to see it a lighted match or a light is extinguished whenheld in this atmosphere, or the same can be tested by pushing anelectric button on the outside of the room for lightinga gasflame at theinside of the same, thus avoiding a disturbance of the atmosphere inthese rooms while watching the non-lighting or lighting of the flamefrom the outside through a glass window.

Whenever it becomes necessary-as, for instance, when work has to be.done in such rooms-to change the atmosphere or carbonic acid into sweetfresh air, this can easily be done by permitting the ingress ofatmospheric air through an opening into the rooms and waiting until bythe diffusion of the outside and inner atmosphere the carbonic-acid gashas escaped automatically or by connecting such rooms by a large pipewith a suction-fan or other draft-producing appliance. When abuildingstorage or warehouse, for instance-is erected in connection withmy method of preventing fires by carbonic-acid atmosphere, all the roomsin the same could be connected up for the sake of quickly charging thisatmosphere into fresh air by a large pipe or directly with a shaft, atthe top of which would be placed a suitable draft-producing appliance.At another place in the room there would be an opening communieatingwith the outside fresh air. Such opening of course would be tightlyclosed up ordinarily and could be closed and opened from the outside, soas not to necessitate the entrance to the room. Everything would be soarranged and constructed as to make it possible to change the atmospherein one room without affecting the others. In some cases theelevator-shafts could be arranged so as to be used for the changing ofthe atmosphere in the rooms, so that an additional shaft would not benecessary.

Since carbonic-acid gas is known to possess a certain antiseptic value,preventing the action of many germs and ferments which require thepresence of oxygen, and since all animals and vermin such as rats, bugs,moths, (Ste-cannot live in such an atmosphere an atmosphere ofcarbonic-acid gas outside of its fire-extinguishing properties, can beadvantageously used in all rooms where goods are stored which are liableto damage from these sources, such as furs, grain, fruits, and otherperishable products.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The method herein described of preventing fires,which consists in establishing aperman ent atmosphere of carbonic-acidgas in the rooms to be protected, substantially as set forth.

2. The method herein described of preventing fires, which consists inestablishing in the rooms to be protected an atmosphere of carbonic-acidgas, and sustaining said atmosphere by supplying intermittently orcontinuously an additional quantity of carbonic-acid gas to said rooms,substantially as set forth.

3. The method herein described of preventing fires, which consists inestablishing a permanent atmosphere of carbonie-acidgas in the rooms tobe protected, and impregnating said atmosphere with an odoriferoussubstance so as to act as a warning against danger, substantially as setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NATHAN SULZBERGER.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPnL, HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

